Titans coach Garth Brennan sends his entire 31-man squad to work ahead of pre-season

Washing cars, landcsaping, bricklaying and plumbing. The Gold Coast Titans’ preseason training has taken an unusual turn as coach Garth Brennan tries to show his players just how good they’ve got it.

Gold Coast Titans pre-season training. Coach Garth Brennan. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

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GOLD Coast captain Ryan James says the Titans need to toughen up and a week on the tools could help turn around their NRL fortunes.

James was hard at work washing cars on Monday after coach Garth Brennan sent his 31-man squad into the real world.

The Titans will spend this week working fulltime and training in the evening as Brennan attempts to give his $10 million squad a reality check.

A former schoolboys footy star, James admitted he had never worked a day in his life but now realised how good he had it.

Brennan has sent his players into the workforce. Picture by Nigel Hallett.

“Doing something like this makes your appreciate what you have,” he said.

“I’ve been working for three to four hours (washing cars) and in footy you only train for one or two hours, have a break, lunch with your mates, do whatever on your phone then get treatment. Here you have to slug it out all day.

Ryan James admits he’s never done a real day’s work. (Nigel Hallett)

“For someone like me who’s never worked a day in his life it makes you appreciate what you’ve got. If you can do this here then on the field it’s not too hard.”

James was washing cars with Bryce Cartwright while Jarrod Wallace (landscaping), Nathan Peats (bricklaying) and Jai Arrow (plumbing) are working on job sites.

The Titans finished 14th last season and had major defensive issues, which Brennan is hoping to fix next year.

Brennan wants his players to become part of the Gold Coast community. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

James said the work experiment could help toughen up the Titans on the field.

“Our defence is where we need to pick up and that’s what we’ve been working on this off-season,” he said.

“Football is a mental game. If you want to win, you win. If you want to play hard, you play hard. If you want to tackle hard, you tackle hard.

“It’s about getting everyone to that same level.”

Brennan said he hoped his players emerged from the week with a better understanding of what awaits them in life after football.

Peachey is working in a steel fabrication. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

“They were all pretty excited about it but it’s only day one — we’ll see how they are on Thursday afternoon when they’re combining work with training,” he said.

“If I ask them to do a little bit extra on the training paddock they don’t go whinging about it because they realise they’ve got it pretty good.

“They get to play a game they love and are paid very well to do it.

“You see players finish their career and fall into depression and mental health issues because they lose the structure they had in their lives.

“They have to be conscious of life after football. They should be realising that football doesn’t go forever.”

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